Game apparatus.



E. KRANGHER.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DE0.1 1911.

2 vswamSFSKEET 1.

wimsssEs nwguron Edward francizef ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0"WASHINGTON. D. c.

E. KRANCHER. GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION IILED DEC. 1, 1911.

Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

2'SHEETSSHEBT 2.

VIIIlIIIIIIIIIIl/IIIIiIkII/fl IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/ INVENTOREdward firanc/zer WIT NESSES ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH cm.WASHINGTON. 04 c.

EDWARD KRANGHER, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

GAME APPARATUS.

To. all whom it may concern Be it knownthat I, EDWARD KRANOHER, acitizen of the United States, and a'resident of the city ofNew York,borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, haveinvented a new and Imafter being thrown, so as to propel it in difproved Game Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description. My invention relates to an improvement in games,andparticularly to apparatus for mechanically playing the upon a base orboard.

For this purpose my apparatus comprises sultable devlces for throwing amovable member representing a ball,with which the game is played, andstriking said member ferent directions across the board; upon which isrepresented a base balldiamond having bases and base paths and providedwith figures which represent the players.

I Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of,this specification, in which the same characters ofre ference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 represents a top plan of the board upon which thegameis played;Fig.

2 is a vertical section on the line 2.2 of Fig.

v1 ,Fig. 3 is a top plan of the mechanism by means of whichthe partswhich throw and bat the movable member representing the ball areactuated; andiFig. 4 is a section on,

the line 4-4 of Fig. 1. v

On the drawings, the numeral 1 is a board which forms a suitable base,and on the top surface of this board isrepresented a base ball diamondhaving bases '2, 3,4 and 5,con-

nected bysuitable lines forming the base paths; and theynumerals 6 to 12inclusive indicate figures representing the players of the team. v I IThe numeral 6 indicates the first baseman,

the numeral 7 the second baseman, the numeral 8 the short-stop, thenumeral 9 the thirdbaseman, and the numerals 10, 11 and 12 the rightfielder, the center fielder'andthe left fielder,-respectively. Thefigure which represents the pitcher is shown at 13, and

the figure which represents the batter is shown at 14. :When the game isplayed, the

pitcher isactuated to throw the ball toward the batter, and at the sametime thebatter is I actuated to. strike thesame and drive it toward thefigures representing the in fielders and out ,fielders. The. figuresrepresenting game of base ball the pitcher and the batter each comprisestwo halves 15 and16connected together by means of a spring hingej17.This spring hinge acts to hold the two sections in the same plane. Thelower sections 16 ofboth the figures in question are. always held in avertical position, but the upper sections will UNITED sTA Es'rATENTornion;

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec, 17 1912, Applicationfiled December 1, 1911. Seria1No.663,226. I I Y rotate around the hinge17 against the force of the spring thereof, when desired.

, To the backs of the upper sections 15 of the'figures 13 and 14 areattached eyelets or staples 18, and to the eyelet 18 on the figure i 13is attached an operating cord 19', which passes down through an aperturein the board 1, and through a'perforated guide 'or bearing 20'. The,;lower section 16 of the g3 figure 13is'rigidlymounted in a slot in thef board 1, and'fits into a groove in the upper surface of the part 20,the parts being de- .75 tachably secured in this position tothe board lby their interfitting engagement'with one another. I The otherend of thecord 19 is secured'to a slidingmember-21, which moves in a slot 22 inthe boardl, and supports in its top the lower section 1601f the batter14.

This sliding member 21 is secured to a spiral spring 123, and the otherend ofthis spring 23 is loopedaround a curved bar 24, locatedbeneaththe'board 1. This bar is not curved on the arc ofa circle, but isso bent that its 21, and then extends'rearward to the edge of the base,terminating in aknob 26.

27 is a down-turned lugadjacenttherear endswill be a slightly greaterdistance from 5 edge of the board -1; and the lengthofthe spring 23, thelength ofthe slot 22, and the length of the string'25 are such that whenthe sliding member 21 is withdrawn by the the lug -27, and theverticalportion of the string 25 will be suflicient to allow the spring hinge 17to hold the sectionsl15 and 16 of the batter 14in one and the same planewith each other. i

v 25 is a knotformedin the cord25, just nected to the member 21, areinclosed in a suitable cover or casing 28. This casing is 100 v spring23 the knob 26 will vbepulled against of course secured to the bottom ofthe board 1, and it extends past both ends of the aperture 22, as shownin Fig. 4.

On the upper section 15 of the pitcher 13 I arrange a hollow shelf 29,which receives a spherical member 30, representing a base ball. When theupper section 15 is bent over around the spring hinge 17 and thenreleased, this ball is thrown forward toward the batter 14, and when theupper sect-ion 15 of the batter is bent around the spring 17 and thenreleased, the member 30, representing the ball, will be struck andpropelled toward the fielders.

By referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the aperture 22 is narrowerat the end which is nearer the knob 26 on the cord 25. At its other endit widens and terminates in a plurality of recesses 31, separated byfingers or projections 32. One of these recesses will be centrallyarranged, and when the batter 14 is retracted by the spring 23, thesliding member 21 will slip into one or the other of the recesses 31, tovary the angle 'of impact with the ball 30, and consequently thedirection in which this member 30 is driven.

To play the game, the spherical member 30, representing the ball, islaid upon the concave shelf 29, and the knob 26 is pulled. This actionwill first rotate the upper section 15 of the batter 14 against theforce of the spring hinge 17 but when the knot 25 in the cord 25 engagesthe edge of the aperture in the member 21, through which the body of thecord 25 slides, this member will be drawn rearward, moving the batter1.4 bodily with it and tensioning the spring 23 and pulling upon thecord 19. The stressing of the cord 19 rotates the upper section 15 ofthe pitcher 13 in the opposite direction to that of the rotation of thesection 1.5 of the batter. The knob 26 is then released. The spring 23then retracts the sliding member 21, easing the cord 19, and at the sametime withdrawing the sliding member 21, upon which the batter ismounted, toward the end of the slot 22 having the longitudinal recesses31. The easing of the cord 19 permits the return of the upper section 15of the pitcher, and this results in propelling the spherical member 30toward the upper section 15 of the batter. The bodily movement of thebatter 14 to meet the ball, as well as the movement of the upper section15. due to the force of the spring hinge 17, will be sufficient tostrike the ball with sufficient force to drive it across the diamond. Ifthe ball strikes a player it will of course mean an out, but if itpasses the players, the.

operator will be entitled to credit for a base hit.

middle of the bar. If, when the string is pulled, the end of the springengages the bar 24 in its exact center, the returning effect of thespring 23 will cause the sliding member 21 to enter the central recess31, and the ball will be therefore met squarely and be driven straightat the pitcher or over his head past second base. If, however, the endof the spring has worked a little to one side of the center of the bar24, the retractile effect of the spring will cause the member 21, towhich the batter 14 is secured, to move to one side or the other, withthe result that the member 21 will fly into one of the recesses 31,beside the central recess. In this instance the ball will not be metsquarely, but will be driven toward the right or left field. Hence, bymeans of the apparatus which 'I have shown and described, the ball isnot always driven in the same direction, but may travel in almost anydirection inside or outside of the foul lines, much the same as in areal base ball game.

With a little practice, the operator can work the spring 23 to one sideor the other, merely by manipulating the cord 25, before he actuates theparts to a sufiicient extent to cause the ball to be thrown and batted.In this way the skill of the person playing the game can be exerted todrive the ball in any desired direction; that is to say, he can practicethe art of place-hitting which professional players have made famous.

Ordinarily I prefer to mount the figures representing the fielders uponthe board 1 so that each can turn around a pivot 33, this pivot beinglocated to one side of the longitudinal. axis of the figure. With theplayers mounted in this way, if the ball is batted hard enough to causea player to turn when the number 30 strikes him, an error can beregistered; but if the ball strikes a player without turning him, inother words, if the pivoted piece representing a fielder completelystops the ball, the fact will indicate a put-out.

I wish to have it understood that the apparatus shown and described isillustrative only, and that I do not care to be limited to the detailsthereof, except in so far as is indicated in the following claims:

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. Apparatus for playing the game of base ball, comprising a boardbearing the representation of a'base ball diamond upon its surface, aplurality of figures representing players pivotally mounted upon saidboard, and means for propelling a movable member representing a baseball, toward said figures.

2. Apparatus for playing the game of base ball, comprising a boardhaving the representation of a base ball diamond upon s o s to throwsaid member, a figure representing its upper surface, a plurality offigures pivotally mounted upon said board, said ures' representingfielders,f means mounted upon said board for propellinga movable membertoward the corner of the diamond representing the home plate, and meansrep- I resenting a batter for striking said movable I member forpropelling the ballback toward the field'e'rs. v

Apparatus for playing resenting a pitcher comprising a movable section,means for supporting a member rep resenting afbaseball UPOIlnStLldmovable section, means for moving said movable section 1 a battermounted to be bodily movable with the figure'representing the pitcher, V

respect. to-said member, said last-named figure also having a movablesection, resilient means for actuating the last-named section,

, and means for causing the figure represent ing the batter to strikethe ball thro-wnby 4. Apparatus for playing the game of baseball,comprising a board having a figure representing a pitcher mountedthereon, said figurecomprising a fixed lower section and a movable uppersection',rthe upper section leased, the force of the spring hinge Willreturn the upper section to propel the member representing the ballaway; from the figure.

I 5. Apparatus for playing the game of base ball, comprising a memberhavingan aperture or slot therein, a member slidably mounted in saidslot, a figure representing a batter secured to said slidable member,said figure having a movable upper section, a spring, hinge forconnecting said movable upper section to the lower sectiomfiexible baseball, a figure representing a player, a

means connected to said upper section and slidably engaging the saidsliding member for moving said figure bodily and rotating the uppersection, and resilient means connected to said sliding member forretracting said sliding member, whereby, when thesaid flexible means ispulled and released, the

a upper section ofthefigure will be moved'by the force of said springhinge, and the figure as a whole will be moved by said resilient meansto strike a member representing the base ball and propel thesame in acertain direction.

6. Game apparatus for playing'the game of base ball, comprising a board,a figure representing a batter, slidably mounted with respect to thesaid board, means for moving said figure in one direction, resilientmeans for moving said figure in another dithe game of base ball,comprising a board, afigure reprection, and means foranchoring saidresilirent means'loosely engaging the same to permit said means to movelaterally to a slight extent and thus cause the figurerep-f resentingthe batter to move obliquel-yito one side or the other when returned bysaid resilient means. I s 7 7. Game apparatus for playing the game ofbaseball, comprising a board having a slot therein, said slot having awidened end with longitudinal recesses separated by 10-11- gtudinalfingers, a sliding member mounted insaid-slot, said slidingmember supporting a; figure representing a batter, means for pullingsaid sliding member in one direc tion in sald slot and resilient meansfor pulling said slidingmember inanother direction in said slot-towardsaid recesses in the widened end, a curved bar to which oneend of said"resilient means is loosely secured, 'theends of said bar being fartherfrom the center of the recessed end of the slot'than the recessed endofthe slot against the force of the resilient means, and released, thesaid resillent means Wlll cause the figure repre senting the batter tobe returned in either a straighter in an oblique directiomaccordthemiddle thereof, to permit said resilient "means to work along the bar toeither side ing to whether the end of the resilient means engages saidbar centrally'or oneither side of the center of the same. l I o Y 8. Inapparatusfor playing the game ofv base ball, a figure representing aplayer, said figure. comprising an upper section andv a lower section, aspring hinge for connectingisai'd sections, and flexible means connectedto said upper section to move the Same against the torceiof the hinge,whereby, when sald means 1s pulled and released,

. the force of the spring will move the upper section to propel a memberrepresenting a base ball away from the figure.

9. In apparatus for playing the game of base upon which said figure ismounted, means for slidably mounting said base to enable the same tobemoved, flexible means connected to said base tomovelthe same, and sresilient means for returning'sald base and senting a player, saidfigurecomprisingan upper section and a lower section, a spring hinge forconnecting the same, a base carrying said figure, means for slidablymountingsaid base, resilient means for maintaina ing said base in oneposition, and means connected tosaid base and to said upper sec- I tionformoving the base and said figure and simultaneously rotating the uppersection against the force of the hinge, whereby when the said movingmeans is released, the upper section and the base will be returned totheir original positions.

11. In apparatus for playing the game of base ball, the combination of afigure representing a pitcher, said figure comprising an upper sectionand a lower section, a spring hinge connecting said sections, a secondfigure representing a batter, said batter likewise comprising a movablesection and resilient means for moving the same, and opwise comprising amovable section, and operating means for simultaneously actuating themovable sections of the pitcher and batter, said operating means whenreleased allowing the movable sections to return to their originalpositions.

12. In apparatus for playing the game of base ball, the combination of afigure representing a pitcher, said figure comprising a lower sectionand an upper section, a spring hinge for connecting said sections, asecond figure representing a batter, means for movably mounting saidbatter, resilient means for maintaining said batter in one position, andmeans connected to said batter and the movable section of the pitcherfor operating the same, said means when released permitting the batterand the movable section of the pitcher to return to their originalpositions.

18. In apparatus for playing the game of base ball, the combination of afigure representing a pitcher, said figure comprising a lower sectionand a movable upper section, a spring hinge connecting said sections, asecond figure representing a batter, saidbatter likewise comprising alower section and an upper section and a spring hinge connecting thesame, means for mounting said batter to enable the same to be bodilymovable, resilient means connected to said mounting means to keep thebatter in one position, and operating means connected to the mountingmeans and to the movable sections of the batter and pitcher foroperating the same simultaneously, said operating means when releasedpermitting the batter and the movable section thereof and of the pitcherto return to their original positions.

14:. Game apparatus for playing the game of base ball, comprising afigure representing a batter slidably mounted, means for moving saidfigure in one direction, resilient means for moving said figure inanother direction, and a curved bar to whichsaid means is looselysecured, the bar being so bent that its ends will be farther from thecenter of the batter than the center thereof when the figure is at thelimit of its movement due to the action of the resilient means, wherebythe end of said resilient means secured to the bar can move laterally toa slight extent and cause the figure to move obliquely to one side orthe other when returned by said resilient means.

15. In apparatus for playing the game of base ball, the combination of abase, a figure representing a batter, means for movably mounting saidfigure so as to make the same bodily movable, and resilient means forreturning said figure, said base having guiding means to enable saidfigure to move in different directions when moved by said means forreturning the same.

16. In apparatus for playing the game of base ball, a base, a figurerepresenting a batter, and means for mounting said figure to enable thesame to be bodily movable, said base having a slot with a plurality ofnotches in one end to guide said figure in difierent directions.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDXVARD KRANGHER.

WVitnesses:

WILLIAM F. NICKEL, PHILIP D. ROLLHAUS.

Copies 01' this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

